


Day 18: Carving Contest

by AQ110



Series: Klancetober [18]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Banter, Contests, Fluff, Galaxy Garrison, Knife skills, M/M, Post-War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-25
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-08-07 10:13:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16406483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AQ110/pseuds/AQ110
Summary: A short story of some friendly competition and a boy who still isn't used to positive attention.Part 18 of 31 for @ikimaru's (Instagram) Klancetober!





	Day 18: Carving Contest

**Day 18: Carving Contest**

 

Now, everyone knew Keith was great with a knife. It wasn’t some hidden talent or a secret he kept to himself. It was a part of who he is, just another fact added to what makes up Keith. He is a hothead, his favorite color is red, he is the best pilot the Garrison had ever seen, he fought in a space war, and he was good with a knife.

When the paladins saw a pumpkin carving contest at the Halloween fair the Garrison was holding, it seemed like a fun competition for all of them to join. It was free, and there was prize money for 1st through 3rd place, so there was no real loss.

The nine of them sat at an impossibly long table with about 12 other participants. There was a time limit, to make things more interesting while simultaneously making sure they had time to clear the table for the next contest. They all had an hour and a half to gut and carve their (large) pumpkins.

“You’re going down, mullet!” Lance chided with an elbow bump to Keith’s left.

Said ‘mullet’ rolled his eyes. “We’ll see about that.”

“Alright everyone!” called a lady in a Garrison uniform, most likely a volunteer, called out to the crowd. “Your time starts….now!”

Everyone dove into their pumpkins with smiles on their faces. In a way, friendly competition like this is what they missed most about fighting in space.

Just as Lance finished popping his top off, about 20 seconds after the timer started, he looked over to see Keith was already halfway done gutting his, hands covered in orange goo as he scraped the inside of it.

“What the quiznack, Keith?! How are you so fast?!”

“It doesn't matter how fast I am.” Keith grunted. “What matters is what it looks like in the end.” 

Well, he couldn’t argue with that, could he?

 

Sooner than anyone realized, the timer buzzed, putting the competition to a close. Only a few jibes here and there were passed between the black and blue paladins after they got so wrapped up in their pumpkins.

The lady in the Garrison uniform moved to the end of the table and one by one, turned the pumpkins to the audience, but more importantly, to the judges.

Out of their group of nine, Coran was first. “And here we have Coran, the Altean! Let’s see what you’ve got!”

She turned the pumpkin to reveal...scribbles and lines carved into it? The judges were silent as Coran smiled. 

“It’s a beeblebub! Quite a resemblance, no?”

No one said anything as she moved on to Allura. “And here we have princess Allura of Altea!”

She turned the aliens pumpkin to see four mice carved into the side. They were messy, but you could still tell what they were.

Next was the yellow paladin. “And now for Hunk from Earth!”

His pumpkin was a stack of pancakes with a plate and all. It was simple, but it looked realistic enough. It gained some nods and hums of approval from the audience.

“Next is Pidge from Earth!” Her pumpkin looked like a robot with... _ some _ kind of algorithm above it. It was smart, but it was above most of their heads.

“Here we have Lance from Earth!” Lance proudly showed his pumpkin of a ghost and the words ‘will you be my BOO?’ etched into the side. There were a few laughs from the crowd and Keith rolled his eyes fondly. It was just so... _ Lance. _

“And lastly, Keith of Earth!” They turned his pumpkin and the crowd went silent. It was two of the voltron lions, tails made in the shape of a heart in front of a moon and surrounded by stars.

Cheers started up from the crowd and Keith hid his face in Lance’s shoulder. Even if he was deemed a ‘hero’, getting positive attention was...hard to get used to. But being there, feeling Lance’s warm skin on his cheek move as he laughed, maybe he doesn't mind it so much after all.

 

Soon Keith found himself on the 1st place podium, two thousand dollar check in hand (one that he would give to his old orphanage when he got the chance) and his pumpkin proudly displayed at his boot covered feet.

In second place was an unknown Garrison worker (or maybe he just didn’t remember them…?) with a check of one thousand and a pumpkin of Iverson. In third was Hunk with a check of five hundred and an audience member kindly went and got the yellow paladin some pancakes.

One would think that standing up there, in front of the crowd with others taking his photo would make him nervous. And it kind of did if he was being honest. But when purple irises met blue in the large crowd, he knew that everything was going to be alright.

 

_ This was just another reminder to the rest of the team that Keith was great with knives. And to Lance, his pumpkin was a reminder that the emo boy cared for him; and that’s all he needed. _


End file.
